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Homilies are posted no later than during the week
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4 Ordinary Time
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Fourth
Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B - Mark 1:21-28
A man was crippled. Christians visited her. They
chatted with her. Then it was time to go. They said, "We will pray for
you." The woman replied, "I can do my own praying. But if you want to
help me, you can wash the dishes and take out the dog." Mark's Gospel describes not only
the opening of the teaching ministry of the Nazarene but also His first
recorded miracle. This is a a Gospel double-header. Mark gives two
Jesus tales for the price of one.
Incidentally, Newsweek reveals that more than 80% of
people are convinced God performs miracles and about half are convinced
they have seen divine intervention in their lives.
The clever plan of the Master was to get as many
invitations as possible to speak in Galilean synagogues. He wanted to
get His message out on the wires a.s.a.p. He was a master of marketing.
Mark's Gospel tells us He preached in synagogues seventeen different
times. We are talking about Operation Saturation. The first thirty
years of His life Jesus worked with His rough carpenter hands. Now He
was about to work with His golden tongue.
Mark does not tell us what Jesus taught. We cannot
fault him. The blame is Peter's. He was an eyewitness or, better,
an earwitness. It was he who dictated his memoirs to Mark, who may have
been his son. Remember Peter was married. And possibly Peter could
neither read nor write.
Peter does tell us, however, through Mark that Jesus
upset people's minds with His teaching. Whatever the message was, it
staggered His audience. It was not the usual canned material that they
were so often subjected to. His words must have danced across the
airwaves like blazing fragmentation grenades.
One hint of an explanation is found in Mark's words:
"He taught with personal authority and not as the Scribes taught." The
scholars of the day would preface their remarks with such lines as "The
rabbi says..." or "It is alleged..." or "It is commonly taught..."
That was not the Nazarene's style. He did not tell
His audience what others were teaching. Rather, He tackled questions
with authority. One did not hear Him say, "It may be..." but rather
"Amen, amen I say to you..." He required no credentials beyond Himself.
If one does not subscribe to a divine Jesus, one
must put Him down as a most arrogant person. Note that His audience did
not put Him down as such. They felt chills run up their spines as He
spoke. They sensed they were in God's presence.
At this point, Mark changes directions. The Christ
is half way into His talk and a sick fellow rudely interrupts. He has
no time for Jesus' teachings. He wants his health returned.
Check out the Teacher's reaction. He does not lay
the man out for bad manners. He does not say, "See me after my
lecture." Nor does He say, "Tell your symptoms to my disciples." He
stops His talk in mid-sentence, perhaps mid-syllable, and cures the
sick fellow. What message is Mark telegraphing to us?
Firstly, the Master is backing up His message with
divine power. He is, as college students say, a Hot Ten. Secondly He
reveals He is as much interested in people's bodies as their souls. He
is concerned with the whole person. Check the Gospels. You'll never
find Jesus refusing a sick person a cure.
The Lord Jesus is endorsing the dictum that reads,
"Before you can put grace into people's souls, you must first put food
into their stomachs." Incidentally, there are thirty million hungry
people in the US alone. Many million are children.
Many Christians forget this point. Theirs is a
telephone booth Theology or, better, Meology. There is room in that
tight kiosk for only God and themselves. Other people, especially
hungry or sick ones, are on their own. No wonder George Bernard Shaw
said, "Beware the person whose God is only in the skies."
If your Christ is only in the skies, think again.
"If you haven't any charity in your heart," quipped Bob Hope, "you
have the worst kind of heart trouble." Jesus was not afraid of
getting involved in the nitty gritty of people's lives. He worked with
His hands more often than He spoke with His mouth.
Mark is saying to us, "If you want to measure what
kind of a Christian you are, count up what you did for the crippled man
today. You are either a Bible or a libel." Each of us should be God's
letter of introduction to a despairing world.
Charles Dickens wrote, "No one is useless in the
world who lightens the burden of it for someone else."
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http://www.st.ignatius.net/pastor.html
4 Ordinary Time
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Fourth
Sunday in Ordinary Time: Teaching with Authority
It
is said that the following incident took place off of Massachusetts
back in the early 50's. It was a stormy night at sea and a large
battleship saw a light in the distance. The light was directly on
the ship’s course. The captain of the ship was alerted and had a radio
message sent out: “Light up ahead, bear ten degrees south.” The
captain received the reply, "Sir, you must bear ten degrees
North." The captain grew furious and got onto the radio himself
and yelled, "I am Captain James Smith, that’s captain in the United
States Navy. Whoever you are, I am ordering you to bear ten
degrees south. Who are you, and what is your rank?" He
heard the feeble answer, "This is Seaman First Class Howard Scott, Sir,
you must bear ten degrees north." The captain barked out, “I am
on the bridge of the Battleship USS New Jersey, and I am telling you to
bear ten degrees south." Then he heard the reply, "But, Sir, I am
in the Baker’s Island Light House, and you had better bear ten
degrees North."
A
statement carries authority according to two aspects: who is speaking
and what is being said. The captain had authority due to his
rank. The seaman had authority due to what was said. Jesus
had both. Jesus spoke with authority. What He said was
true. He also had authority because of Who He was. He was
the Son of God, the Messiah of God, and the Eternal One who became man
on Christmas. He said, “Love your enemies. Be kind to one
another.” On the cross he called to his Father for forgiveness
for those who tortured and killed him. He himself was a kind, loving
person. He spoke about God's kingdom and lived as the ideal
member of that kingdom. He had authority, and He has authority.
We need to listen and follow.
He
calls us to speak for Him. He gives us authority. For us to
exercise this authority both our words to be true and we must live as
committed Christians.
Many
times our papers report religious scandals. Charismatic TV
preachers, Roman Catholic bishops and priests, caught acting in the
immoral ways. The message that they had been delivering from their
pulpits for years was true. Many people were moved to come closer
to God. Many people confronted their own demons and took steps to
draw closer to Christ. But then the scandal hit the papers. The
message of the preacher that had moved them was still true, but now it
has lost much of its impact. The one who delivered it was not true to
his own words. As a result his credibility, his authority
was terribly damaged if not totally destroyed.
You
can certainly see how this can happen in your home. Parents have
authority due to their position in the family. God tells children
to honor their mothers and fathers. That’s the Fourth
Commandment. But the authority of parents is diminished or even
destroyed when the parents act in ways that are not Christian.
For example, all parents want their children to be kind to each other.
But if their children observe Mom and Dad being nasty to each other,
the children are going to learn nastiness, not kindness, as standard
way of acting. When these same parents say to their children that they
should be kind to each other, the children respond with their actions
as though their parents no longer have authority to tell them how to
behave.
That’s negative. Let’s look at the positive. Many of our
seniors have spent years taking care of their sick spouses.
Retirement was not what they expected. Instead of going and
doing, their days were spent caring and cleaning, and organizing doctor
appointments. But when someone makes a comment that he or she is
such a good spouse, the caring spouse merely says, “I took vows.”
And in those few words supported with a lifetime of action, that
husband or wife speaks more eloquently about marriage than any priest
or preacher could possibly speak. For his or her words have
authority, the authority of the One who called him to the sacrament of
marriage and the authority of the spouse who lives the sacrament of
marriage.
Jesus spoke with authority. He was not like the scribes and
pharisees. He was not two faced. He was not
hypocritical. He didn't have a dark side of his life that he kept
hidden. He didn't just speak the truth, He was the Truth
Incarnate. Jesus gave orders to unclean spirits, and they obeyed
him. It wasn't the words that kicked the devil out, it was the
person who spoke those words.
He
didn't call us just to do some of the things He did, He called us to be
His presence for others. We are called to destroy evil in our
world. We cannot do this unless we are determined to be
Christlike.
Today we pray that we might be invested in the authority of Christ, an
authority that flows not just from what we say, but from who we are as
Christlike people.
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http://stmaryvalleybloom.org/
* available in Spanish - see
Spanish homilies
4 Ordinary Time
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Liberation
from Addiction
(January 29, 2012)
Bottom line: Jesus freed Dostoevsky from the unclean spirit of
gambling. He can also free us from addiction.
In today’s Gospel we hear about a man tormented by an unclean spirit
which causes uncontrollable outbursts. At first glance, it seems like
we are entering strange world, far removed from our own. Nevertheless,
when we think about it, it may not be as distant as it first appears.
We often read in the newspaper about fellow humans who act under some
inexplicable compulsion, who do things almost unimaginable. Moreover,
we know people who appear quite ordinary, yet who are gripped by
self-destructive addictions. Indeed, most of us have that kind of
experience, at least during some stage of our lives. We may not
identify it as an “unclean spirit,” but we find ourselves in the thrall
of some power which seems beyond our control. And it is not uncommon
for people with great mental abilities to fall victim to some
irrational compulsion.
I would like to use an example from one of the greatest geniuses of
modern times. I mentioned him last Sunday – the Russian novelist,
Feodor Dostoevsky. He is known as the "master of the human heart"* on
account of his penetrating psychological insights, but he had great
difficulty mastering his own emotions. A "demon" which afflicted him
was a gambling addiction.
The addiction began when Dostoevsky entered a casino and placed a bet
at the roulette wheel. He won – and it seemed like his financial
troubles were over. He did not, however, stop when he was ahead; he
kept playing and wound up losing everything. In desperation, he pawned
his ring, his watch and his coat. Then he proceeded to lose that money
as well.
Afterward, he felt miserable, not just because of his losses, but
because he had given into a frenzy which drove him to act recklessly.
He resolved to never gamble again. To his wife he swore that he would
quit, but that turned out to be a promise she would hear over and over.
Dostoevsky’s gambling not only plunged him into ever deeper debt; it
jeopardized his marriage and his family. This pattern continued for
many years.
One day things changed. Dostoevsky had scraped together a sum equaling
a few hundred dollars. He carefully calculated what part he would risk
and what part he would save. As always, the frenzy overtook him and he
not only bet everything, but pleaded with fellow gamblers to loan him
money, offering them some item of clothes as collateral. About
nine-thirty in the evening, he emerged from the casino, full of
remorse. He decided to seek a priest to make a confession. In the
distance he saw what looked like a Russian church. When he finally got
there, it turned out to be a Jewish synagogue. He later wrote, "It was
as though I had cold water poured over me. I came running home…" From
that day forward, he never entered another casino.
We do not know exactly what happened to Dostoevsky that night, but
somehow his addiction was broken. It certainly had something to do with
his desire to confess his sins and seek Christ’s forgiveness. And it
was as if an unclean spirit had been cast from him. He entered into
some of the most productive – and happiest – years of his life.**
When we see such things happen - and we do, even today – we can only
marvel and react as did the townspeople of Capernaum: “What is this? A
new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and
they obey him.” Jesus can also liberate you – and me.
**********
*Sigmund Freud drew heavily from Dostoevsky, as did Friedrich
Nietzsche. How accurately they understood Dostoevsky is a huge
question. To explore that question I recommend Joseph Frank's
five-volume biography of Dostoevsky.
**During those years he would write his great novels, Crime and
Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov and The Idiot. He also wrote a
delightful novelette The Gambler.
Spanish Version
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http://www.agreeley.com/homilies.html
4 Ordinary Time
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January 29th 2012 A.D.
4th Sunday in Ordinary Time Mk1/21-28
"Jesus taught them as one who had authority"
Background:
There is considerable debate about whether the people whom Jesus
healed were really possessed by the devil or were mentally disturbed.
The debate is utterly beside the point. These individuals were deeply
troubled and Jesus healed them. Jesus came to heal both body and soul.
Most scripture scholars now agree that miracles were an important part
of Jesus’ ministry and of the memory of that ministry in the early
church. We simply cannot abandon them to please those who say miracles
are impossible. The precise explanation of how these healings were
accomplished is another matter and perhaps one that is also beside the
point. Jesus did not work miracles to prove anything. Rather they were
signs that God’s healing love is at work in the world.
Story:
Once upon a time there were some doctors who were discussing
whether prayer helped their patients. Does it do any good, they asked,
for people to pray for those who are sick? One group said it helps
those who pray to feel that they’re doing something for the sick
person. But it really doesn’t help the sick person at all. The other
group said that they had the impression that prayer really had a
positive effect on sick people. The first group said that’s
scientifically impossible. So they decided to try a “double blind”
experiment on those who were recover from heart problems. They would
have prayers said for some and not for the others to see what happened.
The doctors didn’t know who was chosen to be prayed for and the
subjects of the prayers didn’t know either. However a list of first
names were given to those who were to do the praying. So neither the
prayers or the prayees or the researchers know had been chosen to be
the target of prayer. What happened? Those for whom prayers were said
recovered more quickly. See said those who had argued that prayer
worked; there are more things under heaven than science dreams of.
(This is a true story about research, which is reported in the Archives
of Internal Medicine, October 25/1999).
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http://www.saintvincentarchabbey.org/sunday_homily
4 Ordinary Time
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Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark 1: 21-28
Cycle B
Gospel Summary
Jesus goes to the synagogue in Capernaum with four of his disciples
where people are astonished that he teaches with such authority. A man
in the synagogue, possessed by an evil spirit, recognizes Jesus as the
"Holy One of God" who has come to destroy the spirits of evil. After
Jesus casts out the evil spirit, the people in the synagogue are amazed
at the power and authority that Jesus possesses, and go out to spread
his fame throughout Galilee.
Life Implications
More of the implications of this passage may reveal themselves if we
remember the narrative context into which Mark places it. After this
cure of the demoniac, Jesus cures Simon's mother-in-law and many others
afflicted either by illness or by evil spirits.
It is with these acts of power done out of compassion for the needs of
others that Jesus begins his public life. Immediately before, Mark has
told us of the baptism of Jesus, with the Spirit descending upon him
and the voice from heaven saying to him, "You are my beloved Son."
Jesus is then tempted by Satan not to trust that affirmation. After the
arrest of John the Baptist, Jesus goes to Galilee where he proclaims
that the kingdom of God is at hand. He calls disciples to follow him,
and together they go to the synagogue at Capernaum (today's gospel
passage).
The cure of the demoniac represents the beginning of the messianic age
when the power of Satan's kingdom will at last be destroyed ("Have you
come to destroy us?"). Jesus enters a world in which Satan reigns,
teaches with the authority of God, and with compassion casts out evil
spirits that hold people in bondage and fear. Christ's mission, begun
here, will not be completed until the end, "when he hands over the
kingdom to his God and Father, when he has destroyed every sovereignty
and every authority and power . . . The last enemy to be destroyed is
death" (1 Cor 15: 24-26).
Jesus called disciples to be with him as he began his mission at
Capernaum; now he calls us to be with him as he continues his mission
in the towns and cities where we live. The Spirit descends upon each of
us at baptism, and a voice from heaven says to each of us, "You are my
beloved." We, like Christ, will often be tempted by Satan not to
believe these words when the power of evil seems to be invincible. We
will also be tempted to use power and authority, not with Christ's
compassion in service of others, but to advance our own reign.
Later in his gospel, Mark talks about authentic Christian discipleship.
Two disciples who were with Jesus at Capernaum (James and John) seem to
have assumed that discipleship means enjoying positions of power. Jesus
summoned all his disciples and explained his notion of power. He said
that among the Gentiles, rulers make their authority felt and lord it
over people. But, he added, among his disciples, whoever wishes to be
great must be the servant of all. This was the notion of power that led
Jesus to teach, to cast out demons, to cure illnesses, and finally to
give himself up to death on a cross with the supreme power of love.
"For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give
his life as a ransom for many" (Mk 10:45).
Campion P. Gavaler, O.S.B.
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http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/lowhome.html Meeting Christ in the Liturgy
4 Ordinary Time
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FOURTH
Sunday
Deuteronomy 18, 15-20; Psalm 95; 1 Corinthians 7:32-35; Mark 1:21-28
Jesus the Lord is Christ, for he is anointed, as with oil, by God the
Father with the Holy Spirit. Jesus is Christ and Lord because he is God
and Man and in him Man is perfectly reconciled to God,; God's salvation
is made completely available to all men. This work continues each day
in the sacramental liturgy of the Church, the perfect offering of
Christ mad visible and present in the midst of His Body, the Church.
Jesus' messianic consecration reveals his divine mission, "for the name
'Christ' implies 'he who anointed,' 'he who was anointed' and 'the very
anointing with which he was anointed.' The one who anointed is the
Father, the one who was anointed is the Son, and he was anointed with
the Spirit who is the anointing."(St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres., 3, 18,
3:PG 7 / 1, 934.) His eternal messianic consecration was revealed
during the time of his earthly life at the moment of his baptism by
John, when "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and
with power," "that he might be revealed to Israel" (Acts 10:38; Jn
1:31) as its Messiah. His works and words will manifest him as "the
Holy One of God." (Mark 1:24; John 6:69; Acts 3:14) (CCC 438)
I look forward to meeting you here again next week as, together, we
"meet Christ in the liturgy", Father Cusick (Publish with permission.)
http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/
For further reading on today' Gospel, see also these paragraphs in the
CCC: 1673, 2173)
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http://www.ctk-thornbury.org.uk/
4 Ordinary Time
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Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
One of the things that might strike us about the readings for today is
the exorcism of the man in the synagogue. Among you there may be
several different reactions to this mention of exorcism.
Some may think that the man’s condition was described as diabolical
possession simply because the people of the time did not understand
mental illness, epilepsy or other medical conditions and they assumed
that his behaviour must indicate possession by evil spirits.
Yet others will approach these things in a quite literal way and
believe that possession is a more common affliction in the modern world
than most people realise.
I believe that we should acknowledge that the power of evil certainly
exists and is manifested in the world in many different ways. Just
watching the television news a few nights running will tell you this
much.
What else can explain some of the horrendous things that occur, other
than that the perpetrators have given in to the powers of evil?
Deep-seated selfishness and hatred are not the work of God nor can they
ever be remotely in the interests of human well-being.
Although it is important to understand that God does not create evil we
must realise that both angels and men can and do reject Christ and the
goodness that he represents, and that this is the route to considerable
damage to the individual and to others.
What is particularly interesting in the Gospel account is the demon’s
reaction to the presence of Jesus. The disturbance took place in the
Synagogue and since this was a place of solemn liturgy in the normal
course of events the disturbed man would probably have been quickly
hustled out.
However, before this happens, the demon calls out and acknowledges
Jesus as the Holy One of God. It seems to take a possessed man to
recognise the sheer goodness of Jesus, even if this was because he
represents a terrible threat to the powers of darkness.
We have already been told that the people in the Synagogue were
impressed by Jesus and regarded him as a teacher who spoke with
authority, but at this stage they do not go beyond this. Then suddenly
he is recognised by the demon for who he really is.
Jesus has no truck with the demon and commands it to be silent and
orders it to come out of the man. With a great cry the man is suddenly
freed from this horrible possession. It must have been an extraordinary
liberation for him and his family.
While this is undoubtedly a great miracle of healing, the important
point is that Jesus is recognised as the Messiah, as the Holy One of
God. And that this acknowledgement is made not by man but by a
spiritual power, albeit a malign one. If anyone ought to be able to
recognise Jesus’s true nature it is an evil spirit.
Now it is not just Jesus’ teaching authority that is recognised but his
true spiritual stature. He makes a deep impression on men but even more
so on evil spirits. Right here at the beginning of the Gospel Jesus is
being acknowledged as the Messiah, the Prophet, the Holy One of God.
The first reading has been deliberately chosen to highlight this point.
We are taken right back to the time of Moses, the lawgiver, the one who
led the Chosen People out of captivity in Egypt. Moses tells the people
that in due time God is going to send a prophet equal to himself, if
not greater in spiritual stature, who will be a true prophet and who
will speak to the Chosen People the words that God will put into his
mouth.
This is to be no ordinary prophet but the Christ, the Anointed One, the
Holy One of God.
The reason why God finds it necessary to send a prophet is given by
Moses in the text, it is because we humans could not bear the sight of
God. God’s glory is so great that it is not possible for us to look
upon it and live. Our redeemer must come in human form, he must look
like us and talk like us. His divinity must be hidden from our eyes.
Outwardly hidden from our eyes certainly, but not really hidden from
those with insight, not hidden from those with the eyes of faith. Not
hidden from us.
What St Mark is doing is setting the scene. He does it quickly and
deftly in his short but dramatic account of the life of Jesus. He
leaves a lot of details out of his account and only includes what he
regards as the important essentials.
In the first Chapter of his Gospel John points Jesus out, who is then
Baptised and tempted in the Desert; he then returns to Galilee where he
proclaims the Good News and selects his first disciples. Then comes
this incident in Capernaum where Jesus is acknowledged by the people
for his authority as a preacher and teacher, and, of course, recognised
for who he is by the demon.
All this and we have only got to the twenty-eighth verse! Mark has a
story to tell and he tells it faithfully but fast. Mark wants us to
believe in Jesus and gives us only the information we need to make our
decision.
He wants us to be clear about who Jesus is; that he is indeed the one,
true Saviour of the World and that in order for us to be saved we need
to know him, believe in him and follow his Gospel of Love.
For Mark the Gospel is fundamentally about freedom. This Jesus might be
a good preacher and teacher but he is much more than that. He is the
only one who can release us from all that binds us, from all our inner
demons, from all our sinfulness. He is our liberator in the very
deepest sense of that word.
This Jesus is the only one who can restore us to the life of grace and
enable us to walk the way that brings us to unity with God. This is
true freedom; this is us exercising the choice to be who God wants us
to be.
The climax of St Mark’s account of the life of Jesus is the moment when
the Veil of the Temple is torn in two. This is the moment when Jesus
yields up his spirit and heaven and earth are joined. This is the
moment when all that is hidden is revealed. This is the moment of
victory over sin and death.
At precisely this most sacred moment another complete outsider who you
wouldn’t expect to know anything, the Centurion, the official
representative of the greatest secular power in the world, proclaims
his recognition of who Jesus really is and expresses himself in the
immortal words: “Truly this man was the Son of God.”
These words we can make our own. These words can save us. These words
are our greatest protection against all that is evil.
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These
homilies may be copied and adapted for your own use;
however, they may not be commercially published without permission of
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